A general Converged Address Book (CAB) service is provided to improve user experience and activity in association with an address book by storing a single network address book in a network.
The CAB conceptually consists of a CAB client, a CAB server, and a CAB XML Document Management Server (XDMS). The CAB XDMS includes a CAB Address Book (AB) application (app.) usage, a CAB personal contact card app. usage, a CAB user preference app. usage, and a CAB feature handler app. usage.
The CAB client communicates with the CAB server on a terminal, performs CAB user authentication and synchronization between contact information (i.e., a Personal Contact Card (PCC)) and an aggregated address book stored in a network repository, and sends CAB user's demands, such as address subscription, address search, address share, interaction with an existing address book, management of user preferences, or the like to the CAB server.
The CAB server, a main network component in a CAB structure, receives the CAB user's demands from the CAB client, and processes the received CAB user's demands. Main features of the CAB server include CAB client mutual authentication, CAB address storage, address information synchronization, and reflection of address information updates from an address subscription feature into an address book. The CAB server is a network component which performs address subscription/share/translation and reflects user preferences/policies. The CAB server has an address subscription feature of retrieving a CAB user preference XML document from a CAB user preference repository and receiving a CAB user's subscription request, an address share feature of applying personal preferences to data received through address subscription and reflecting the data into an address book, maintaining subscription state information, and sharing the PCC or the aggregated address book, and an interworking feature of interworking with an existing address book system or exposing an interface to an external enabler.
An XDM server which manages user's data in association with the CAB enabler includes an AB app. usage, a CAB user preference app. usage for managing user preferences, a CAB feature handler app. usage for managing CAB service request/response, and a PCC app. usage for storing PCC information.
In addition, an XDMC for connecting to various app. usage functions, a SIP/IP core network for message routing with entities of an external domain, a PUSH enabler for delivering notification messages of non-SIP terminals, and so forth may be provided.
The CAB service may include the following main features:
1. Address Book Synchronization
A. Once a CAB user modifies a local address book in a terminal, a CAB client sends modified information to a CAB server by using a CAB-1 (SyncML) interface.
B. An Address Book (AB) synchronization function module in the CAB server reflects modified data in an AB app. usage in an XML Document Management (XDM) server by using an XDM agent. If the CAB client and the AB app. usage have different formats, conversion occurs, resulting in a data loss due to conversion between the different formats.
2. Contact Subscription
A. The CAB client sends an XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP) request for contact subscription to a CAB user preference app. usage.
B. The CAB user preference app. usage adds a reception contact address from the XCAP request to a contact subscription list.
C. The CAB user preference app. usage informs a contact subscription function in the CAB server of a document change of the contact subscription list.
D. The contact subscription function sends a contact subscription request associated with a reception side's PCC from the contact subscription list to a reception side's domain directly or via a subscription proxy.
E. A reception side's PCC app. usage having received the contact subscription request checks an access permission and a user preference and informs the reception side of a subscription result.
F. The CAB client may execute address subscription according to an XDM Document Command Protocol (XDCP) by using a subscribe and push enabler in an environment where SIP is not supported.
3. Contact Share
A. The CAB client sends an XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP) request for contact share to a CAB feature handler app. usage.
B. The CAB feature handler app. usage adds a reception contact address and a preference of share data from the XCAP request to a CAB feature handler.
C. The CAB feature handler app. usage informs a contact share function in the CAB server of a document change of the CAB feature handler.
D. The contact share function recognizes a contact status from the AB app. usage based on a reception side's address.
i. If the reception side is a CAB user, the contact share function creates the contact share request and then sends the created contact share request to the AB app. usage or the PCC app. usage in the XDM server by using the XDM agent. The corresponding app. usage sends the share data to the reception side based on an XDM forward mechanism.
ii. If the reception side is not a CAB user, the contact share function receives data from the AB app. usage or PCC app. usage in the XDM server for forwarding, requests the CAB interworking function to perform format conversion into a legacy format, and then sends the data to the reception side through a messaging enabler.
4. Contact Search
A. The CAB client sends a contact search request associated with its AB or PCC an AB or PCC of a different domain through an aggregation proxy/search proxy of an XDM enabler.
B. The contact search request is routed to the corresponding app. usage by the search proxy, and the corresponding app. usage sends back a search result to the CAB client.
C. The CAB client translates the contact search request into an external search request through the interworking function during an external directory search, translates an external search result received through the interworking function into a standard XML search result, and then sends the standard XML search result to the CAB client.
5. Retrieval of External Address Book from Non-CAB System
A. The CAB client sends an XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP) request for importing non-CAB data to the CAB feature handler app. usage.
B. The CAB feature handler app. usage adds a non-CAB source, a credential, and a scheduled interval from the XCAP request to the CAB feature handler.
C. The CAB feature handler app. usage informs the interworking function in the CAB server of a document change of the CAB feature handler.
D. The interworking function obtains information about non-CAB address book data to store the obtained information in an AB application storing unit according to the CAB user preference, and informs the CAB client to start address book synchronization.
Meanwhile, when an address book or a PCC of the same domain or a different domain is searched, the CAB client forwards the search request message for searching the address book or PCC to the CAB AB app. usage or the CAB PCC app. usage in the CAB XDM server through a network.
The CAB AB app. usage or the CAB PCC app. usage having received the search request message forwards a response to the received search request message to the CAB client through the network.
When an external directory, such as a directory of a common carrier, is searched, the CAB client forwards a search request message for searching the external directory to the CAB server through the network.
The CAB server having received the search request message forwards the search request message to external directories, and receives response messages thereto from the external directories.
Thereafter, the CAB server forwards the response messages to the search request message to the CAB client.